Tuesday, April 24, 2007

My first thought, at seeing the bright red rock, was, of course, the memory of my mom yelling, “You kids better wash your feet before coming in!”. There’s red dirt in Hawaii, too, very, very dusty. If you spent the afternoon running around in it, you were certain to track in little footprints of red dirt.So once I got past that…

The formations really are other-worldy (think: Mars) and the red is really, really red. The great thing is that you can drive through the valleys, hike to arches and scenic points, really get close and experience it. I’d gone to the Grand Canyon, which is spectacular, of course, but once you’re there, the only true way to experience it is to go hiking down into it. Not-quite-back-in-shape / Lazy Wendee says, “Feh!” There’s lots of hiking, biking, 4-wheeling you can do in and around Moab and along the Colorado and Green Rivers, and you can get very up-close and personal with all of it, fairly easily.

Sadly, our trip was too short, and the winds were biting cold. There was threat of heavy rain and/or snow for our long drive back. We didn’t do as much hiking as we’d hoped. And, the thought of having to do taxes and finish cleaning my old place and go back to teaching immediately after getting back weighed pretty heavy. We’d just finished up moving me, too, so we got there pretty pooped. Still, the sights were really beautiful and inspiring – the hand of God, the artist, very evident. It’d be a great place to plunk yourself down in for a few days and hike, photograph and paint. The town seems to understand and embrace the idea of dusty, dirty visitors, too. It's worth a visit to go kick up a bit of red dirt, yourself. Wide open spaces...